To begin in good humanist style: most erudite reader, though we may never have met and though thousands of miles may separate us, we have been brought together by the honour you have paid me by visiting this modest site, and for that kindness of spirit I am heartily grateful.

What you will find here are comments on intellectual and cultural matters relating mainly to the Renaissance, but certainly not confined to that. It grows out of my own scholarly interests which do not fit easily into current academic boundaries: I am a medievalist who also works in the sixteenth century, an historian of Europe who also works on the part of the shared civilisation that lies north of the English Channel. At the same time, I am sometimes an historian of political thought, sometimes an historian of the book, and sometimes an old-fashioned palaeographer. The range of my interests is reflected by my involvement with two learned societies: I was for many years a Council member of the Society for Renaissance Studies, and, for five years, I was the Executive Officer to the Society for the Study of Medieval Languages and Literature, who publish Medium Ævum. You can find out more about my publications and research from other pages on this blog.

If you are wondering why this site is titled as it is, you can read my explanation in one of the first posts here.

I should explain two points: there is another David Rundle, who is a committed Liberal and involved in Oxford politics. I sometimes try to persuade people he is no more than my twin brother (my parents having given us both the same forename) but I have to admit that he is me. My other life has its own blog, where I pontificate on politics. That is separate from this one. However, one insight I have learnt from writing there is that I will never master the art of incessant blogging. So, the second point is that you will find reading this site is not a burdensome commitment: as the subtitle states, you have a promise that the writing will only be occasional.

Please allow me to comment on your introduction. There is yet another David Rundle, who, far from Oxford politics or Renaissance literature, wishes to make his proper introductions. David Rundle, of Washington D.C., published Information Security professional and storm chaser, is quite humbled and impressed by the scholarly publications of his cognomen, and hopes that his own meager publications can someday be on par. Very pleased to make your aquaintance, David. :)

I just found on-line your excellent description of Trinity College cod. O.9.8, in which you describe a list of orations by early Italian humanists. Among them was a funeral oration for an Andrea phisicus. The oration was written by Nicolaus de Leonardis / Niccolò Leonardi, another phisicus and is sometimes conserved in the form of a letter to Francesco Barbaro and Andrea Giuliani (cf. Ludwig Bertalot’s comments on the Udine manuscript).

Here is the scheda on the oration/letter that I have been working on for an Incipitarium I hope to post on-line soon. I hope that you will forgive me if I point out that it was listed in the appendix to my book (p. 277) but in a place difficult, I admit, to find.

About David Rundle

David Rundle is an intellectual and cultural historian of the Renaissance across Europe which (of course) includes the British Isles. He is a Lecturer at the University of Essex and a member of the History Faculty, University of Oxford.